This week, the GIF debuts as high art. The video below is a brief explainer to accompany Moving the Still, the animated GIF exhibit on display at the world-famous Miami Art Week. The groundbreaking festival includes pieces carefully selected from over 3,500 open submissions, some of which can be viewed on Tumblr’s Storyboard for those of us without a ticket to the swanky event.

Directed by Sean Pecknold and produced by LEGS Media, A Short History of the GIF chronicles the graphic interchange format’s journey from the late 1980s through the dot com bubble up to today’s multi-platform media world -- in claymation. Not only did the GIF pave the way for future digital art memes, but even the savviest of media creators cannot decide whether to pronounce it with a hard or soft ‘g’. (Hint: Inventor Steve Whilhite pronounced it like the peanut butter brand).